There may be some good news on this front. John Deere (agriculture division) has the same monopoly on intellectual property as manufacturers in our field. Farmers- who are used to repairing their own equipment-are being forced to call in the dealer tech because of the electronics on the machines. Written right in the purchase contract when the machine was bought is a clause which exempts John Deere from any liability for increased costs (renting equipment) or ruined crops (sometimes it takes weeks for a tech to get on site) for any downtime.

In their world- aftermarket (black market) computers have been developed & sold to owners of machines who want to repair their own equipment. These black market ECU's are not EPA approved, therefore the farmers are technically breaking the law. They have been fined for installing these ECU's and this is the basis for what's beginning to happen.

Farmers are in the beginning stages of issuing a class action lawsuit against John Deere because of the "right to repair" their own equipment. This could have a huge impact on various industries- it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.